


MUELLER CAUSES CONTROVERSY AT INDY GP

by DChan87



Category: IndyCar RPF
Genre: Canon Queer Character, Current Events, Gen, Heterosexual Character, Inspired by Real Events, LGBT rights, LGBTQ Themes, Mock Article, News Media, Not RPF, Queer Themes, Racing, article
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-31
Updated: 2015-03-31
Packaged: 2018-03-20 14:34:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3653982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DChan87/pseuds/DChan87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written like an ESPN.Com article. Rookie IndyCar driver Kathrin Mueller caused controversy when she protested Indiana's new Religious Freedom Restoration Act in Victory Lane at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	MUELLER CAUSES CONTROVERSY AT INDY GP

## MUELLER CAUSES CONTROVERSY AT INDY GP

Controversy raged at the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis, at IMS on May 9th, and not just on the track.

After running 1st-place Kevin Reilly of thetrack, rookie driver Kathrin Mueller, who was competing in her first IndyCar race, took the checkered flag. But it was in Victory Lane that things got morecontroversial.

Even before the start of the race, Mueller, a successful driver over in Europe, put a gay pride flag sticker on her car’s fuselage. Things got even more intense when Mueller, after pulling into Victory Lane, took a gay pride flag and shouted slogans denouncing Indiana Governor Mike Pence and Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

When asked by ESPN reporters in Victory Lane, Mueller said, “I’m sorry for my outburst, but I just had to let people know that, as a lesbian, I could not sit by and let this legalized discrimination stand.”

The German rookie had been running a tight race with Reilly, who’s considered to be one of the “saviors” on IndyCar earlier. In the last two laps of the race, Mueller and Reilly’s cars got into each other and Mueller forced Reilly off the track on the back stretch, leaving Reilly fuming.

“That’s not how we drive in IndyCar,” he said later. “That was a dirty, cheap shot move and she should know better than that.”

“I was just trying to give him a taste of his own medicine,” Mueller said. “He’d been insulting and trying to humiliate me all week. But if he can’t handle this, I don’t know if he should even be in IndyCar. Perhaps he would do well in Formula 1.”

It’s pretty certain that the rivalry that is brewing between these two is only going to get more heated with the Indianapolis 500 coming up.

But Reilly took a different approach when he found out about Mueller’s Victory Lane protest. After hearing about it, he was visibly surprised and caught off guard, rendered speechless while his crew chief Skip McCoy whispered in his ear.

“I think she took a big risk,” he said. “I mean, I can understand that she has strong feelings about this law, I mean, it has huge implications for her personally, so I guess I should give her credit for speaking her mind on something that matters to her.”

Annie Kruger, a PR representative for Mueller’s team, Großkreutz AutoSport, defended the team’s driver. “We fully support Kathrin and understand her desire to speak her mind,” she said. “If she felt this was important to her, then we stand behind her protest.”

“While I’m unhappy with her actions on the track, her protest was warranted,” said Reilly’s 23-year-old car owner Erin Disney. “I was infuriated when Pence signed the law. At Disney Automotive, we are an equal opportunity employer and server. Our factory in Chicago proudly hires gay and lesbian workers.”

IndyCar officials declined to comment. A spokesperson from Indiana governor Mike Pence also declined to comment.

Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act was signed into law by Pence in a private ceremony on March 26th. The law has drawn protests from business and civil rights groups. Pence has continually defended the law, saying it does not legalize discrimination.

**Author's Note:**

> One of the projects I’ve been working on that hasn’t exactly gotten off the ground is a story about two IndyCar rivals; American Kevin Reilly, from Chicago, and German Kathrin Mueller, from Frankfurt. Kathrin is a lesbian, but her character arc was centered on her desire to win the Indianapolis 500 and beat Reilly, who’s a bit on the egotistical side, but is VERY good (Kathrin is also good and arrogant, but neither one is the antagonist).
> 
> However, the new law in Indiana created something I couldn’t ignore, so I decided to write something like you’d read on ESPN.com or something, after the Grand Prix of Indianapolis.
> 
> Both drivers are in their early 20s, and so are their respective love interests (Erin Disney, who is Kevin’s car owner, and Annie Kruger, who knew Kathrin from school and is her team’s PR assistant).
> 
> The reason Kathrin is participating in that race and not boycotting is because she had been desperate to get into IndyCar for sometime. And the Indy 500 is not JUST a race, so for her to boycott after everything she’d been through would be a non-issue for her. Race car driving is literally her bread and butter. Skipping out is a no-no.


End file.
